Spot gold was seen trading at $1379.27 an ounce at 12.00 noon Singapore time while US gold remained slightly on the lower side.

Analysts said the precious yellow metal is not yet out of the woods as investors continued to take their holdings off exchange-traded funds.

They said physical buying picked up in Asia as buyers snapped up gold bars, coins and nuggets after prices briefly hit their weakest levels in more than two years in the previous session.

The purchases pushed up premiums for gold bars in Singapore to their highest in 18 months at $1.70 an ounce to the spot London prices.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed ETF, said its holdings fell 0.73 percent to 1,145.92 tonnes on Tuesday from 1,154.34 tonnes on Monday.

Holdings of global gold ETFs currently are at their lowest since late 2011. On Tuesday, gold futures recovered slightly to regain some of the more than $200 an ounce they surrendered in the past two sessions.

The biggest gold rout in 30 years has reverberated through the local market, forcing investors to retreat from gold and other resources for a second day in a row.